It may be hard to believe nowadays, but Parma were one of the dominant forces not just in Italy but across all Europe during the 1990s. Since they have been struggling with their finances during the 2000s and 2010s, it may be a distant memory for football fans that Parma were a force to be reckoned with back in the previous decade. And it all started with the hiring of coach Nevio Scala in 1989.
Scala’s playing career as a midfielder was a quite a successful one and took him to such major Italian top-flight teams as Roma, Milan, and Inter. But when he joined Parma, Scala was a relatively unknown commodity in the managerial field having just guided Reggina to Serie B from the third division. However, that did not stop him from having the same level of success. In his debut season, Scala guided Parma to its first promotion to the Italian top-flight Serie A in 1990 and instantly made his presence known in the top division.
With the backing from its parent company Parmalat and the owner Calisto Tanzi, Parma were able to recruit some high-profile players such as Thomas Brolin and Claudio Taffarel to help stay afloat in Serie A. The new signings didn’t just help Parma maintain their top-fight status as Scala was able to guide the club to an impressive sixth-place finish in its maiden season in Serie A, qualifying them for the UEFA Cup.
Parma continued their success in 1991/92 with a seventh-place to secure another season of European football. However, their first European campaign was disappointing as they were knocked out in the UEFA Cup First Round by CSKA Sofia on away goals. Still, there was much good in the season as they finally won a domestic trophy for the first time in their history securing the Coppa Italia with a 2-0 win over Juventus in the Final. That secured them a place in the European Cup Winners’ Cup for the next season.
In 1992/93, Parma continued to shine in the top-flight and even in Europe. Gaining those valuable experiences in the Serie A and in Europe allowed them to be even more successful. They finished a record high third-place finish with 41 points and secured their first-ever European trophy by winning the Cup Winners’ Cup by beating Antwerp in the Final. This won them a new ticket to the tournament for the next year. The only blemish from that season was their loss in the Supercoppa Italiana, where they were bested by Milan 2-1. Nonetheless, it was a successful campaign where they would, once again, continue to rise.
Their success allowed them to recruit one of the top stars in Serie A in Gianfranco Zola during the 1993 summer transfer window. Scala brought the best out of Zola and Zola was able to continue to bring success to the club. He would go on to score 18 league goals in his debut season with Parma to secure European football – this time in the UEFA Cup – with a fifth-place finish in Serie A. However, Parma could not confirm themselves as champions of the European Cup Winners’ Cup as they fell short in the Final losing to Arsenal. They did win, though, the European Supercup against Milan.
The 1994/95 season was no different as Parma continued their meteoric rise in the Italian top-flight by finishing third with 63 points, led by Zola and his team-high 19 league goals. With the arrivals of the influential Dino Baggio and Nestor Sensini, Parma were able to win their first UEFA Cup, beating their top rival Juventus 2-1 on aggregate in the Final. The two teams would meet once again on the domestic front in the Coppa Italia Final, but this time Juventus got their revenge and win 3-0 on aggregate.
In the following season, Parma would not win any trophy for the first time since 1992. This can be considered a season to forget. As the reigning champions of the UEFA Cup, Parma were embarrassingly dumped out of the competition in the First Round by Vitoria Guimaraes, losing 2-3 on aggregate. In the Coppa Italia, they were thrashed by Serie B side Palermo 0-3 in the Second Round. The Supercoppa Italiana was lost to Juventus. Even Zola’s influence dwindled as he faced competition with Hristo Stoichkov and eventually lost his place in the side, despite scoring 10 league goals. Parma still managed to finish a respectable sixth-place in Serie A to qualify again for the UEFA Cup, but that wasn’t enough for Scala to save his job.
With Scala gone, Parma decided to go with Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager, taking a similar approach to when they hired Scala. The young and ambitious Ancelotti had started his managerial career with Reggiana, guiding them to promotion to Serie A in his only season at the club. At Parma, Ancelotti elevated the side to new heights. With an up-and-coming goalkeeper named Gianluigi Buffon coming through the youth-ranks, and a young and promising defender, Fabio Cannavaro, coming from Napoli, times were ready for the making of the greatest Parma side of all time.
Ancelotti also brought in Lillian Thuram to solidify the defense and added lethal Argentine striker Hernan Crespo – still Parma’s all-time top scorer to date – as well as the technically brilliant Enrico Chiesa to the fold. While he had Zola at his disposal, he could not make him fit into his 4-4-2 scheme. Ancelotti’s unwillingness to build the team around Zola only made things worse as the striker was often played out of position and was ineffective as a result. The coach preferred to play Crespo and Chiesa upfront while deploying Zola on the left-sided midfield.
Ancelotti’s Parma revolution was set, and that would lead Parma to their greatest Serie A result in history with a second-place finish at 63 points behind Juventus, led by Chiesa and Crespo who scored 14 and 12 goals respectively. While they did not win a trophy that season either, Parma were able to qualify for the Champions League for the first time.
However, that honeymoon ended soon as Ancelotti’s second season in 1997/98 did not go as planned. Whilst they performed admirably in the Coppa Italia, Parma were still knocked out of the competition by Milan in the Semi-Finals. In their debut campaign in the Champions League, they were able to comfortably win their Qualifying Round to make it to the Group Stage, but failed to go further as they were the worst out of the six runners-up teams from the groups. Even in the league they struggled to replicate the fine form they had the previous season and ultimately finished sixth with 57 points. Parma still qualified for the UEFA Cup, extending their streak of participation to European competitions open since 1991, but that wasn’t enough for Ancelotti to keep his job.
In search for another manager for the 1998/99 season, Parma decided to hire Alberto Malesani, who had just led Fiorentina to a respectable fifth-place finish. Malesani wanted a creative spark in the middle of the pitch and brought in Juan Sebastian Veron Parma to fill in that role. He changed the shape of the team to a 3-5-2 system with Cannavaro, Sensini, and Thuram forming the back three while Antonio Benarrivo and Diego Fuser operated as the left and right wingbacks respectively. Alain Boghossian and Dino Baggio were the pivots, while Veron was a number 10 to support Chiesa and Crespo in the attack. It worked wonders as Malesani was able to bring success immediately. Parma won their second-ever UEFA Cup by beating Marseille in the Final 3-0 and won the Coppa Italia prevailing over Fiorentina on away goals at the end of a dramatic 3-3 double-legged Final. Their league finish wasn’t too shabby as well, with a fourth place granting them access to the Champions League again.
The 1999/2000 season was slightly disappointing. Without such talismanic figure in the middle of the pitch as Veron, who was sold to Lazio, Parma struggled. They were knocked out in the Third Qualifying Round of the Champions League by Rangers and were beat by Cagliari in the Third Round of the Coppa Italia. They did, however, start the season on a high by beating Milan 2-1 in the the Supercoppa Italiana to win their only trophy for the season. Their domestic campaign was a disappointment as they failed to qualify for the Champions League, finishing fifth at 58 points.
Malesani would last another half-season before being sacked. Parma would go on to win the Coppa Italia one more time during the 2001/02 season but that’s where their success ended. Their glorious 1990s would be no more as their financial budget dwindled and the ultimate bankruptcy of their parent company Parmalat would be their downfall. Parma would go on to sell most of their key players and would never be the same again. The club was even declared bankruptcy in 2015 only to be re-founded and to restart from Serie D, eventually return to Serie A in 2018 after back-to-back promotions.
Parma’s glory days are behind them and feel like a distant memory. Their trophy cabinet can boast two Coppa Italia, one Supercoppa Italiana, two UEFA Cups, one European Cup Winners’ Cup, and one European Super Cup. It all started with Scala securing a promotion and ended with Malesani winning a double for the club. In between, Ancelotti secured them their best result in Serie A with a second-place finish. Each manager was able to create history at the club and bring success.
However, the club was not able to sustain that success due to their finances. In an age when in the Italian league Juventus, Milan, Inter, Lazio, Roma, and Fiorentina reigned supreme, Parma hung in there and gave them a run for their money. The great Parma may be floating around Serie B nowadays, but you can’t tell the story of Italian football in the 1990s without mentioning them.
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